Energy giants BP and Eni made a significant gas discovery in offshore Egypt, Eni announced on Thursday.
The company said it made the discovery in the Baltim South West exploration prospect, located in the Baltim South license, in the conventional waters of the Nile Delta, offshore Egypt.
The new find discovered in July 2015 is placed 12 kilometers from the coast and 10 kilometers north of the Nooros gas field, and has a production of 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. It is expected to reach to 120,000 barrels of oil equivalent by the end of this year.
Eni said that the new discovery further confirms the significant potential of the so called "Great Nooros Area", which is now estimated to hold 70-80 billion cubic meters of gas in place.
Eni said it will continue exploring the "Great Nooros Area”, with the drilling of other two wells.
Hesham Mekawi, regional president of BP North Africa, commented: "We are pleased with the results of the Baltim SW-1 well as it is the third discovery along the Nooros trend and confirms the great potential of the Messinian play and its significant upside in the area. Our plan is to utilize existing infrastructure which will accelerate the development of the discovery, and expedite early production start-up. This announcement is another example of BP’s commitment to unlock resources in order to bring critical gas production to Egypt."
Italy's Eni, through its subsidiary IEOC holds a 50 percent stake in the license of Baltim South, while BP holds the remaining 50 percent stake. The operator of the license is Petrobel, a joint venture between IEOC and the state company Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC).
Eni has been operational in Egypt since 1954, while BP has operated there for over 50 years.
(Anadolu Agency)
